Published: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at 03:02 AM.

This situation most likely can be blamed on a historian named Joseph J. Ellis, who in 2000 published a book called “Founding Brothers,” about the bonds that linked the leaders of the early republic.

His book was well-received, but perhaps the title moreso than the book itself. Since then we’ve had Cokie Roberts’ “Founding Mothers,” about the women who stood behind those men; Andrea Wulf’s “Founding Gardeners,” about their agricultural interests; Dennis Pogue’s “Founding Spirits,” about what they had to drink; and even John McPhee’s “The Founding Fish.”
That last is about shad fishing and the American shad, which some people think saved George Washington’s troops from starvation at Valley Forge. McPhee thinks that’s overstating the case, for the record, though it’s still a great fish.
Francis J. Bremer wrote one about the Puritans’ John Winthrop, called “America’s Forgotten Founding Father,” and I’m still waiting for one called “The Founding Frenchmen,” about Lafayette and perhaps de Tocqueville and Andre Michaux.
But the current review is about food writer Dave DeWitt’s “The Founding Foodies,” subtitled, “How Washington, Jefferson and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine.” If you’re a cook new to this avalanche of foundation stories, you might give it a look.
Along with the clever writing are recipes for things like George Washington’s beer, Martha Washington’s fruit cake, Thomas Jefferson’s ice cream and even Medford rum punch. That’s what is supposed to have kept Paul Revere lubricated during his famous ride.
“What!?” you’re exclaiming at this point. “Paul Revere was drinking!? Whoever heard of such a thing? That’s rubbish. Why, it’s even treason.”
Well, certainly H.W. Longfellow hadn’t heard. “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” doesn’t mention rum at all.
But others do, principally those subversives in the Medford, Mass., Historical Society. Revere is known to have stopped at the Isaac Hall house in Medford during his ride, and at that hour, Medford’s biggest distiller is unlikely to have been brewing tea.
The society’s Barbara Kerr says Revere probably had a “reasonable amount” of Medford rum, even if it didn’t produce the “drunken caterwauling” described by others, mainly on the Web.
Stories like that, and the one about Thomas Jefferson being the first person to import pasta to the United States, are what convinced DeWitt — a University of Virginia graduate, it should be noted — to undertake this book. And no, he does not think it’s demeaning to call the Founding Fathers “foodies.”
“To the contrary,” he writes, “I am elevating them into a new dimension of humanity, one that transcends politics. Today, the Founding Fathers would be superstars of sustainable farming and ranching, exotic imported foods, brewing, distilling and wine appreciation. In other words, they would be foodies.”
DeWitt starts simply, with the Indian foods that helped early colonists survive in Plymouth and Jamestown. But it isn’t long before Franklin and John Winthrop are preaching the virtues of corn — Winthrop says the Indians invented popcorn, among other things. And shortly after that, we’re on to the origin of barbecue and the miracle of codfish (along with the origin of the word “schooner”).
There’s a section on America’s first French chef, a man named James Hemings who started out as one of Jefferson’s slaves. And of course there’s stuff on shad. George Washington, like John McPhee, was a shad fisherman, and a good bit more successful.
The book visits famous places like Philadelphia’s City Tavern, Michie Tavern outside Charlottesville and Gadsby’s Tavern in Alexandria, Va., and of course some spots in Williamsburg. There is a good collection of recipes, a great bibliography and recommended reading that will keep you busy for days.
Starting with the rum, here are some recipes, conveniently modernized:

In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, lemon or lime juice, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves, and stir into a paste. Add the rum to the hot water in a serving cup and stir in the paste until it dissolves. Garnish with the lemon peel and cinnamon stick. Serve while hot.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place the ham in a large pan with a tight-fitting lid. Pour five cups of water over the ham, cover and bake for 15 minutes. Turn off the oven, do not open it, and let sit for 3 hours. Repeat this process, and let the ham sit in the oven until it is completely cool.
In a saucepan, combine mustard, brown sugar and vinegar. Over medium heat, cook the mixture until it thickens into a glaze. Using a brush, paint the ham completely with the glaze. Remove any skin from the ham, and cut diamond shapes on the fat surface of the ham. Insert one clove into each diamond, and using toothpicks, attach pineapple rings to the ham. Bake the ham in the pan, uncovered, for two hours at 350 degrees F. Remove from pan, slice and serve. Yields 20 or more servings.

Tom Dillon retired as Accent editor at the Times-News in 2006.

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This situation most likely can be blamed on a historian named Joseph J. Ellis, who in 2000 published a book called “Founding Brothers,” about the bonds that linked the leaders of the early republic.

His book was well-received, but perhaps the title moreso than the book itself. Since then we’ve had Cokie Roberts’ “Founding Mothers,” about the women who stood behind those men; Andrea Wulf’s “Founding Gardeners,” about their agricultural interests; Dennis Pogue’s “Founding Spirits,” about what they had to drink; and even John McPhee’s “The Founding Fish.”
That last is about shad fishing and the American shad, which some people think saved George Washington’s troops from starvation at Valley Forge. McPhee thinks that’s overstating the case, for the record, though it’s still a great fish.
Francis J. Bremer wrote one about the Puritans’ John Winthrop, called “America’s Forgotten Founding Father,” and I’m still waiting for one called “The Founding Frenchmen,” about Lafayette and perhaps de Tocqueville and Andre Michaux.
But the current review is about food writer Dave DeWitt’s “The Founding Foodies,” subtitled, “How Washington, Jefferson and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine.” If you’re a cook new to this avalanche of foundation stories, you might give it a look.
Along with the clever writing are recipes for things like George Washington’s beer, Martha Washington’s fruit cake, Thomas Jefferson’s ice cream and even Medford rum punch. That’s what is supposed to have kept Paul Revere lubricated during his famous ride.
“What!?” you’re exclaiming at this point. “Paul Revere was drinking!? Whoever heard of such a thing? That’s rubbish. Why, it’s even treason.”
Well, certainly H.W. Longfellow hadn’t heard. “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” doesn’t mention rum at all.
But others do, principally those subversives in the Medford, Mass., Historical Society. Revere is known to have stopped at the Isaac Hall house in Medford during his ride, and at that hour, Medford’s biggest distiller is unlikely to have been brewing tea.
The society’s Barbara Kerr says Revere probably had a “reasonable amount” of Medford rum, even if it didn’t produce the “drunken caterwauling” described by others, mainly on the Web.
Stories like that, and the one about Thomas Jefferson being the first person to import pasta to the United States, are what convinced DeWitt — a University of Virginia graduate, it should be noted — to undertake this book. And no, he does not think it’s demeaning to call the Founding Fathers “foodies.”
“To the contrary,” he writes, “I am elevating them into a new dimension of humanity, one that transcends politics. Today, the Founding Fathers would be superstars of sustainable farming and ranching, exotic imported foods, brewing, distilling and wine appreciation. In other words, they would be foodies.”
DeWitt starts simply, with the Indian foods that helped early colonists survive in Plymouth and Jamestown. But it isn’t long before Franklin and John Winthrop are preaching the virtues of corn — Winthrop says the Indians invented popcorn, among other things. And shortly after that, we’re on to the origin of barbecue and the miracle of codfish (along with the origin of the word “schooner”).
There’s a section on America’s first French chef, a man named James Hemings who started out as one of Jefferson’s slaves. And of course there’s stuff on shad. George Washington, like John McPhee, was a shad fisherman, and a good bit more successful.
The book visits famous places like Philadelphia’s City Tavern, Michie Tavern outside Charlottesville and Gadsby’s Tavern in Alexandria, Va., and of course some spots in Williamsburg. There is a good collection of recipes, a great bibliography and recommended reading that will keep you busy for days.
Starting with the rum, here are some recipes, conveniently modernized:

In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, lemon or lime juice, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves, and stir into a paste. Add the rum to the hot water in a serving cup and stir in the paste until it dissolves. Garnish with the lemon peel and cinnamon stick. Serve while hot.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place the ham in a large pan with a tight-fitting lid. Pour five cups of water over the ham, cover and bake for 15 minutes. Turn off the oven, do not open it, and let sit for 3 hours. Repeat this process, and let the ham sit in the oven until it is completely cool.
In a saucepan, combine mustard, brown sugar and vinegar. Over medium heat, cook the mixture until it thickens into a glaze. Using a brush, paint the ham completely with the glaze. Remove any skin from the ham, and cut diamond shapes on the fat surface of the ham. Insert one clove into each diamond, and using toothpicks, attach pineapple rings to the ham. Bake the ham in the pan, uncovered, for two hours at 350 degrees F. Remove from pan, slice and serve. Yields 20 or more servings.